Poulet Velouté en Croute

Recipe Using Pepperidge Farm Puff-Pastry Shells
Poulet Velouté en Croute

A deep pan with a lid is ideal for this recipe. You will also need a baking sheet.

Three boxes of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Shells, twelve shells total (variation: use M-J’s biscuit dough and line a baking dish with it, top and bottom, filled with the prepared chicken velouté)
Six boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Two cups of white wine (leftover champagne is also suitable)
One cup of water
Four tablespoons of butter
One third cup of white flour
One teaspoon of herbes de Provence
Salt and white pepper to taste
One half cup of whipping cream
Two eggs beaten with two tablespoons of water, for brushing the pastry shells

Melt one tablespoon of butter in a large frying pan. Add one cup of white wine or champagne and one cup of water, together with salt and white pepper. Poach chicken breasts in white wine and water mixture until they are fully cooked; about forty-five minutes. Remove chicken breasts from pan and let them cool to room temperature.

Sauce Velouté
In the same pan, melt three tablespoons of butter. With a wire whisk, stir in 1/3 cup of white flour. Let this brown and then add one cup of white wine, whisking continually to prevent lumps. Incorporate the cream, and stop cooking after the sauce has thickened. Add salt and white pepper to taste.

Prepare the Puff Pastry Shells

Place 12 Pepperidge Farm puff pastry shells on baking sheets, and let thaw for twenty minutes.
Pre-heat your oven to 400* Fahrenheit.
Brush puff pastry shells with egg and water mixture.
Bake for twenty minutes or until golden brown.

Slice the cooled chicken breasts into thin scallops, and return the chicken to the pan where it will be mixed with the sauce velouté, and reheated briefly on the stove.

Remove Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Shells from oven. Lift top of each puff pastry shell and fill with poulet velouté. Replace top. Bake the filled puff pastry shells in a 400* oven for ten minutes.

Serve with petit pois and vinaigrette salad. Poulet Velouté en Croute made with Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Shells is an ideal dish for brunch, luncheon or dinner. This recipe provides two servings each for six people.

Recipe Copyright M-J de Mesterton December, 2008

M-J’s Pink Lemonade Chicken

M-J’s Pink Lemonade Chicken

I invented this dish for a dinner party guest, a French teacher who was pregnant. She loved it. Other guests did as well, so I have made my Pink Lemonade Chicken for many buffet dinners. Now, I am inspired by my dear nieces and nephews who are expecting babies soon, so I am publishing this recipe for the first time. The ingredients are simple and few, and you may adjust the amounts according to taste.

Ingredients: 

Four-to-six pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
One 16-ounce can of frozen pink lemonade
One tablespoon of cornstarch
Salt or celery salt to-taste
Water, two or three cups

Poach chicken breasts in a mixture composed of  2/3 of a 16-ounce frozen pink lemonade juice and two or three cups of water.
When it is thawed, the pink lemonade turns to thick syrup. One large can will be sufficient for four-to-six pounds of chicken. Reserve a third of the can for a final sauce.

Cover the boneless, skinless chicken breasts and simmer slowly in the pink lemonade for an hour or more. You may add salt or celery salt, but remember, this dish is created for those with delicate stomachs, so please don’t add garlic or onion flavorings. The liquid will reduce and the whole pieces of chicken should become lightly browned. Remove from heat and place on top of two sheets of waxed paper to protect your cutting board.  When the chicken breasts are cool, slice them into medallions with a very sharp knife. The liquid left-over in the poaching pan will be used to make a sauce.

Sauce for Pink Lemonade Chicken

Into the pan, pour 3/4 cup of water and a teaspoon of cornstarch, which has been mixed with a tablespoon of water. Add the 1/3 can of remaining pink lemonade syrup. Cook till it becomes a sauce. Pour some of it on the base of your serving dish. Arrange the slices of chicken in a circular fashion. When you have finished arranging the chicken slices, drizzle the rest of the pink lemonade sauce over them.

Recipe Copyright M-J de Mesterton 2000

Pork Chops Esterhazy, or Côtes de Porc Esterhazy

A relative made this for me long ago. It was delicious! Here is my adaptation of the classic dish:

Pork Chops Esterhazy, or Côtes de Porc Esterhazy

2	lb	6 Center-Cut Loin Pork Chops
2	tbsps.	Vegetable Oil (corn or peanut oils are fine)
1/3	cup	Carrots, chopped
1/3	cup	Celery, chopped
1/2	cup	Onions, chopped
1	tbsp	Garlic, minced
1/2	tsp	Thyme
1	one	Bay leaf
2-3	tbsps	of Dried or Fresh Parsley
3/4	cup	Dry White Wine
1/2	cup	Chicken Broth
2	tbsps	Tomato Paste
1	tsp	Dijon Mustard
3/4	cup	Sour Cream
1/4	cup	Capers, drained

Method :

• 1. Heat the oil in a large skillet large enough to hold the chops in one layer. Add the chops and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 5 min.
• 2. Scatter the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, thyme, bayleaf and parsley around the chops. Cover and cook 10 min.
• 3. Blend the wine, chicken broth and tomato paste and add to the skillet. Cover closely and cook about 25 min. longer, turning the chops once.
• 4. Remove the chops and keep hot.
• Add the mustard and sour cream to the skillet and stir. Bring just to a boil, but do not boil or the sour cream will curdle. Put the sauce through a fine sieve, pressing down with a wooden spoon to extract the liquid flavorings from the vegetables.
• 5. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and add the capers. Reheat gently without boiling.
• 6. Spoon the sauce over the chops.
• This is a wonderful dinner party dish. Serve with rice or noodles on the side.

M-J’s Elegant Walnut Shortbread Cookies

M-J’s Elegant Walnut Shortbread Cookies

M-J's Walnut Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

One half-pound of butter (two sticks)

Two and a half cups of flour

One cup of powdered sugar

One third-cup of granulated sugar

One half-teaspoon of salt

One third cup of buttermilk or regular milk

One teaspoon of vanilla (imitation vanilla is just as good as the real thing)

One cup of ground walnuts (I use a food-processor)

Method

Soften butter till just before melting point. Add and incorporate rest of ingredients. Form small balls of dough, set them on a cookie sheet, and flatten with a fork, or any tool you prefer which will put a texture on top of the cookies. A metal cookie- baller, much like a meat or melon-baller, could be useful for forming the cookies. Bake at 350* Fahrenheit for  half an hour.

~~Copyright M-J de  Mesterton, Elegant Survival~~

Transporting Cookies as a Gift

M-J Makes a Waxed-Paper Gift Bag for Cookies and Biscuits, Using an Old Iron and Pinking Shears

Walnuts